This past Saturday and Sunday our group finally took our exciting trip down the Great Ocean Road. As a whole, we really did not expect the tour to be so full of history, stories and culture but rather more of just a fun touristy type of thing. Our weekend was beyond what we had ever imagined.
Great Ocean Road Arch: Parisa, Vy, Demi
One of our first stops was at The Great Ocean Road Memorial Arch, which honors the 3,300 World War I soldiers who built this magnificent scenic way. The road is a total of 243 kilometers (151 miles) and took the soldiers thirteen years (1919-1932) to create using mostly their pick axes and dynamite. This majestic road was built by these soldiers to honor their fallen brethren and also gave the soldiers a renewed sense of purpose, which perhaps lowered some effects of post-traumatic stress disorder. Much of the road very closely hugs the southeast coastline, but some parts also extend into large dairy farm areas and rainforests.
Right before we got off to see the arch Katie played us a song titled “And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda”. Though the war ended much earlier, a Scottish-born Australian by the name of Eric Bogle did not write the song until 1971. The song was extremely powerful and had a very profound effect on Demi in particular. To put into context, here in Australia to be “waltzing Matilda” means to be wandering the outback place-to-place looking for work with nothing but your blanket and swag, which has been a very important tradition in Australian culture. “Waltzing Matilda” is also the name of one of the country’s most famous songs, which is sometimes referred to as the unofficial anthem of Australia. Bogle wrote the song from the prospective of a young man going from a free mate to being called into the war. In the song, the young soldier is maimed by the Turks and makes the comment he “never knew there were worse things than dying” and that he will never be able to go waltzing Matilda again.
Loch Ard Gorge: Demi, Parisa
Loch Ard Gorge Top View
On Sunday morning we stopped at Loch Ard Gorge, another place full of history. The Loch Ard ship was built in Glasgow, Scotland in 1873 and was a huge, magnificent ship made of iron. The ship departed England on March 1st, 1878 with passengers and crew of 51. On the foggy morning of June 1st, while trying to thread the needle of the Bass Strait, the ship struck the limestone rock. Some of the passengers where crushed by falling cliffs while others were washed overboard. The Loch Ard sunk within fifteen minutes after impact and only two people on the ship survived. Tom Pierce was eighteen at the time and a member of the crew while Eva Carmichael was an eighteen-year-old passenger simply travelling to Australia to begin a new life with her family. Eva did not know how to swim but was able to cling to a chicken coop and after five hours in the icy water finally saw Tom on shore and was able to call for his help. Tom pulled her out of the water and into a nearby cave where she collapsed from the trauma. Completely exhausted, Tom then climbed the cliffs to get out off the gorge and walked several kilometers to find help. While telling us this story, Katie pointed out the resemblance of this tale to Titanic to lighten the mood.
Demi and Parisa